When we last went down my family's genealogical rabbit tree (just go with it, man), we learned that I can count a handful of relatively famous folk as distant relatives. Just this week, I was reminded of a much closer brush with family ties.
My Mom, she of the assiduous documentation of our heritage, texted me a few days ago to say, "Found out today that one of my friends here [in Jacksonville] is related to the Nantucket Coffins. You're related to them thru Granny Russell [my Dad's mother]."
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| Hey, Cuz! |
When I told my Mom the same, she said, "You're likely cousins many times removed. You go back to two of the sons of Tristram who was one of the first settlers there. One line comes through Jethro who owned what is now the "oldest" house." Don't think the 'Old' reference there didn't resonate with me.
My sister chimed in at this point to say, "We have a Jethro in the family? Damn. I would've named Max Jethro."
I reached out to the FOGTB in question, who responded by saying, "Pretty cool! The Coffin family is also mentioned in Moby Dick. I once had an argument with my high school English teacher because he said the name was symbolism and I argued it was just a common name in Nantucket at the time. Damn English teachers want to see symbolism in everything."
To which I said, "Fucking Pellicane".
And, scene.
TLDR, I'm related to one of my good friends. His side got more height than mine. Bygones.
Genealogy is pretty neat.
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